White Shadows
by Obi Wanton
Summary: Relba had always thought that life was simply "what you see is what you get." However, a simple break and entry turns her world upside as she begins to question who she really is. OCxThane / One year prior to ME1
1. Running

**Chapter One:** Running

_"Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."_

_- Unknown_

"Forgive me if I seem blunt but I don't think this plan will work." a Quarian male hissed to the human female beside him. The female's lips lifted upright into a half-sincere smirk as she hacked the door before her. Without batting a single lash she quietly whispered back

"Must you always doubt me? How many times have we done this? Seven, eight times and not once have we been caught. Have a little faith in me, Kier."

The Quarian simply grumbled behind his mask and continued to keep a look out for any who passed them by. In the middle of the night in a rural part of a city it had been pretty silent but when you were attempting to break into somebody's house you could never be too sure. Of course if the two were caught they had a backup plan: run for the hills with guns blazing. Well, with _one_ gun blazing considering the only real weapon they had was Kier's assault rifle. Not that he had any aim with the thing but it was still better than nothing.

"Gotcha! Come on Kier, we're in." The female stated as she unlocked the door only to slip inside with Kier following closely after. Shutting the door behind him, he regretted how dark it had become.

"Rel, are you sure we should be doing this? I've got a bad feeling about everything."

Relba stopped midstep to turn and face her cautious companion. From behind his mask she could see his eyes glow luminously with doubt and anxiety. Sure he would complain every now and then about how he was unsure of some of the jobs they would do but never had it been this bad before. Flashing her golden-hued eyes in his direction to meet the soft flow of his own, she began to reassure him.

"Kier, honey, I promise nothing will happen to you. We just need to find it and we'll be on our way. Now before something _does_ happen to you let's get going."

Kier only held his words though as she gently touched his arm in hopes of furthering that reassurance. Nothing could change the doubt holding him however, not even Rel's sweet attempts. Still he pushed himself forward though and followed his female companion closely. Despite the fact he fumbled in the dark he managed to dodge the little tables and random objects in his pathway. He may have been a cowardly sour puss but he did have grace on his side, which had been surprising.

Nevertheless the duo had broken into a wealthy man's house in order to retrieve something of theirs. The man, Terrence Miller, had taken the papers to the orphanage in which she and Kier had grown up in. The Asari who used to own the little place had grown sick and went back to Thessia to live out the rest of her days. Miller had the right amount of credits to buy the place but Rel would have no part of it. Even though they had kicked her out at the age of eighteen she wouldn't let the scumbag corrupt her home. There was something sinister about the man that she couldn't put her finger on and even after she would figure it out, he couldn't be allowed to own the place. Not even over her dead body.

"Where do you think they are?" Kier questioned while they past a desk.

"How often do people keep papers anymore?" Rel replied as she stopped in front of a desk to begin rummaging through it. Kier only stood behind her to keep a lookout for any signs of trouble. To both their dismays however, Relba had found nothing even remotely similar to their deed.

"Damn, it looks like we have to head upstairs." Relba said in a mock frustrated tone with a smirk curling her red lips upward "I wonder what we'll find."

"I think I may know where he's keeping it." Kier commented as he moved in front of her. The Quarian was quite resourceful when he hadn't been so nervous. He had always been like that though. When things began to look grim he would always have something up his sleeve that would see them through. He was the main reason they were still alive when Relba's ideas wouldn't go as planned.

Down the dark hall they pushed onwards to the last set of doors. The ones that had been the fanciest, more expensive looking indicated that the master bedroom was probably tucked behind it. Kier only pushed through its doorframe to reveal that it in fact was what they had suspected. Upon its walls framed pieces of paper hung to be displayed like trophies. Both questioned how the man obtained them but decided to leave them be for now. They were here for only one reason and the moment it was in their possession they would get the hell out of there.

"Weird," Rel began as she studied the names upon them "These are all orphanages that have shut down over the years."

"He must collect them, sick bastard." Kier spat as they both made their way around the room. As they read each name listed on the paper they became increasingly suspicious of what this terrible man was doing. Soon enough they had found their own paper and took it down from the wall. The woman had never been so glad to see the name "Matriarch Raina's Little Stormhouse." Yes, it had been an incredibly strange name for an orphanage but if you went inside you would realize why exactly it had been called a Stormhouse. Little children were sometimes not the easiest to deal with, including the messes they would create.

Nevertheless Rel wrapped the framed paper in a large cloth she had saw laying around to not only protect it but to make sure nobody saw what they were doing. though as they were beginning to leave the rather large room they had stopped to listen to the silence.

"Did you hear that?" Rel questioned as she held the frame close to heart "Someone's coming."

Kier drew his weapon and stood on an edge as both Relba and himself studied the darkness. The only light in the room had been from the windows but the lighting had been disturbed as a shadow ran past it. Rel attempted to turn and run for the door but had suddenly been blocked by a person standing in her way. The person stood luminously before the duo and for a brief moment they watched one another, waiting for someone to make the first move. Kier drew his weapon and began to fire but he didn't realize that the person had already moved into strike. Before Rel could do anything herself, she simply watched as her beloved friend fell to his knees in mind numbing pain due to a swift kick to the side of his body. On the ground the Quarian reeled in pain leaving a stunned Relba.

Relba still held the frame close to her body as the mysterious person watched and waited for her move. He stood to the side of the room and at any given moment she could've run for the door but that meant she would have to leave Kier. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.

Surprisingly however, Rel set the frame down beside Kier and readied herself for a fight. The woman brushed a long strand of silver hair out of her eyes while she shifted both of her legs and arms into a ready stance. With a coy smile she beckoned the man to come to her but to her dismay he did not. This had made the female question: had he not heard her? But to her ultimate surprise, she almost hadn't seen him lurch forward to attack.

In the pale moonlight a flash of green had caught her eye as he landed a punch to her right side. A low grunt escaped her lips while she threw up both of her arms to block the attack that had been aimed for her face. The sheer amount of pain caused her to grimace but not enough to make her falter. If she would've given into the pain now he probably would have made her buckle downwards like Kier had. With sudden thoughts of Kier and what this man had done to him a powerful energy took hold of her body. It was a strong, angry power that pulsated throughout her. This man would pay for what he had done to her friend.

Now pushing back at the man, she began to hold her own weight. Clenching her teeth as she forced most of her strength into her arms he began to move back. Ultimately it had worked but she didn't stop there.

Her golden hues watched this shrouded man like a bird of prey. Relba noticed the man's black eyes staring back at her and instantly realized he hadn't been human. He stood silently with his chest already moving up and down from the lack of breath. With a smirk she shot at him

"What? You can't be tired already, we just started!"

But before he could answer she ran towards him and swiftly kicked him in the side of his shin. He buckled downwards only to roll to around and end up behind her. He snaked an arm around her neck and held her in a vice grip as she struggled against the rock hold. Relba hadn't been expecting him to gather himself so quickly just to pick her up and throw her body over his shoulder. The next thing she saw was the ground and it felt even worse up close. Before he was finished though he took her by the neck and held her a few feet off the ground. Once again the woman struggled but braced herself as she rose her knee to his groin. Instantly he released his grip and held the tender area as she fell back.

Catching her breath as she attempted to gather himself, Rel once again brushed the incredibly long strands of hair out of her face and watched as he struggled backwards onto the bed behind him. He braced himself and put a hand up in an almost forefitting nature. Had he been surrendering?

"Rel!" A familiar voice broke the silence "Someone's home!"

Before she knew it the bedroom door had flung open and the sound of a gun being fired broke the uneven silence. Relba felt a sharp sting of pain jolt through her torso as the shot that had been fired landed on her lower back. The woman fell forward in a sheer amount of pain but felt herself be caught by something. Shouting and gunfire soon became an obnoxious sound in the back of her mind as she drifted from consciousness to unconsciousness. Through all the madness a clear voice spoke to her

"I'll take you to a safe place, hang on."

Eventually only blackness spoke to her as she fell into the limbo of unconsciousness.


	2. Breathing

**Chapter Two:** Breathing

_"Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."_

_- Unknown_

The darkness that had been her mind refused to let go of its hold on her. It danced with her as she limboed through it's ebony essence while two voices could be heard off in the distance.

"Why should we trust you?" the first voice waned in quietly.

"Are we not after the same thing?" the other responded in the same far away echo.

"Obviously not considering you nearly killed both Relba and I. Clearly we are not after the same thing!"

"I believe that a change of heart had a certain role in this. You must trust me on this; I don't wish to harm you or your friend, you're safe with me."

"I'm so tired of listening to this "trust me" shit! Because of that Relba was shot, you almost killed both of us, not to mention someone else is now hunting us! I refuse to trust you and the moment Rel wakes up we're out of here."

Eventually the voices had been sucked back into the black abyss her mind had been. A moment more of the darkness had been hers until her eyes suddenly shot open only to fall upon a sleeping Kier curled up in a chair by the bed. Despite the pain erupting in her side, a small smile curled the corners of her mouth as she shifted her legs to the edge of the bed so she could stand up. Though Kier had been a heavy sleeper Relba stayed light on her feet as she exited the room so she wouldn't disturb him. Before she knew it she had found herself standing alone in another room.

Rel took note of the fairly empty mid-sized area. The only real objects she saw were the couch and a small coffee table while a tiny kitchen housed little utensils. Beside her a door lead to what she presumed was a bathroom while the two other doors in her wake lead to the outside world. One of the doors had been glass and acted as a window despite the fact it was the doorway to the balcony. It was evident that the apartment had been an older human design that had probably been long abandoned. Not too many buildings had the privacy like the older buildings had and it had been quite refreshing to see walls. To prove her theory as to how old the place had actually been, she manually had to slide the glass doors. Something she could've passed on.

The brisk air of the night had felt relieving against the warmth of her tan skin. The sweet chilly wind tossed the long strands of silver about while the tiny hairs on her arms stood up. With the gentle breeze came the soft smell of the early morning rain and it had danced with each of her senses. What a marvelous feeling this had been and it had only been more exhilarating with each echo of the rain drops.

Her senses then flared at the presence of another and suddenly her eyes flew open. Turning quickly caused the sound of her feet to graze the ground and her eyes had fallen upon a drell man. His dark hues met hers and for a long moment they held eye contact. The rain gently lapped at her exposed skin and sent a shiver up her spine. Silently Relba shifted forward and stopped only a few feet away from the glass, holding his eye the entire time. He only continued to watch her as she spoke

"Can I trust you?"

It had taken him a few seconds to respond but eventually he responded "Yes, I don't take pleasure in harming those who don't deserve it."

Taking that as a good sign, Relba reached for the handle of the door and slid inside. He backed a few inches away from her to give her space just in case she didn't fully trust him. It wasn't that she hadn't trusted the man before her, she was just very unsure where he stood ally wise. Was he on their side, Miller's or perhaps even his own? Warily, the woman spoke to him.

"How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough." he answered as he shifted ever so slightly "How is your wound?"

Rel had almost forgotten about the gunshot but with the new reminder sent a throbbing sting and it had caused her to wince. With a soft smile, she answered him

"It's just a flesh wound, no river of tears needed for me. The real question though is how long was I out?"

"Nearly twenty four hours. Your companion wouldn't leave your side and he persisted that I stay out of the room as you slept." he remarked as he blinked "He is a fierce protector."

Relba's lips curled at the sudden image of a sleeping Kier who had been curled up in the chair at her side. Looking to the window as the rain began to fall slightly harder, she had then commented on the subject.

"Kier...can be a little protective but I'm sure he doesn't mean to come off as rude. It's just in his nature to make sure everything doesn't get harmed."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him shift to view the storm as well.

"He cares a great deal for you. Never let that go to waste for there are few in the galaxy you can trust with your life."

"Kier is the only person I can trust with my life," she responded as she looked to him "no offense to you." Rel responded as the smile upon her lips softened. Both stood next to one another as they quietly watched the rain dance upon the glass. Though the droplets blurred their vision, they still watched.

"We just met after a strange series of events. If anything I would be worried if you trusted me fully at this point." He responded in a gentle voice. Only the sound of the rain echoing off the glass wavered through the little apartment as the pair dipped back into the silence.

"Does it always rain like this?" he questioned as he turned to face her. Relba smiled lightly as she returned his eye.

"Not always but when it does it sticks around a bit. It gives Illium a certain character." she answered but all the man had done was stare at her. Cocking an eyebrow she questioned him.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

He blinked once more as he gathered his thoughts.

"My species does not take well to water. It's nothing you shall burden yourself with, however."

Relba cocked her head to the side "Why are you on Illium then?"

"Work," he answered bluntly "I'm a freelance assassin."

Taking in what he just said, she couldn't exactly grasp what he had just told her. A freelance assassin?

The perplexed look upon her face flicked into an amused grin as she spoke "Shouldn't you keep that to yourself? I mean, what if somebody decides to use that knowledge against you?"

"I cared little for the consequences the moment I spared my target last night." he answered motionlessly as Relba's lips pursed into a quizzical smile. He was serious about all of this, wasn't he? Rel still had many questions that had needed to be answered.

"What's you name then, Assassin? And who hired your hands?"

"My name is Thane Krios and a man named Zeus hired me. I know little of him or his whereabouts."

"Wait, a man named Zeus?" Relba let the smile fall from her lips "I know him."

Looking away from the drell, Relba wandered towards the sliding glass door to look out. The coldness of the Illium rain rolled off the window and chilled her to the bone as she stood next to it. Her deep golden eyes watched as the dark clouds rolled along the city fiercely and danced with the tall skyscrapers. With the sound of thunder came a new voice.

"Relba, stay away from him. He just admitted to being an assassin and that he's working for Zeus!"

Rel left the sight of the city scape behind as her eyes fell upon Kier who held his gun in the drell's direction. The young woman shifted her body to where she was between the gun and Thane just in case Kier decided to shoot. In an angry voice he said.

"Relba, move."

"No Kier, we can explain what's going on."

Silently he still held his gun in their direction, not showing any intention of moving. The air only grew more intense as they made direct eye contact. His eyes flicked with a certain betrayal, something she had never seen in her friend, and silently she whispered to him.

"Kier, don't shoot. I promise you he's not an enemy."


	3. You

**Chapter Three:** You

_"Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."_

_- Unknown_

Though Relba had begged her Quarian companion to stop his foolishness, Kier showed no sign of lowering his gun. His eyes were dark as he stared at the duo and only grew darker as she spoke to him.

"Please Kier, put your gun down and listen to me: he has no intention of hurting us anymore. He's on our side."

"Bullshit," the Quarian hissed back "If he's on our side why did he try killing you? I heard everything that he said!"

Rel slowly walked to him with both her hands up to show him that she meant no harm. Instantly he had begun to back away from her but had stopped the moment she became an arm length away. In a gentle voice she reassured him.

"Kier, sweet pea, we can explain this to you. Just lower your gun, please."

After a few moments of staring at one another, Kier eventually complied to her pleas.

"Alright, fine, but this better be a good reason."

"His name is Thane and as we know already he was sent to kill me." The woman began as she threw the drell a glance "He was hired by Zeus."

"Wait, Zeus as in the guy who always visited you in the orphanage?" Kier questioned and it only confirmed the fact she had known him. The sickness in her stomach only tightened into harder knots at this knowledge.

"I hate to admit it but it would seem so. Why he wants me dead I have no clue. I haven't seen the guy in five years." Rel answered as her eyes shifted to the ground. Zeus had been the closest thing to a father that Relba had and now knowing that he wanted her dead made her question all those times he looked out for her. It had been strange that he never wanted to adopt her or even pay attention to the other children but never had she suspected that he wanted to hurt her.

"Doesn't he still live in that penthouse? That one by that Asari burlesque place?" Kier asked as he broke the silence.

"I'm not sure but it's worth a shot to go and see, right?" Rel returned in a quiet voice.

"You've already been shot." The male commented as he threw Thane a sharp glance. With the new reminder from Kier, a soft ache throbbed in her side. The Quarian noticed the wince in her eye and instantly he went to her side to help.

"You're in pain, let me help you." before the young woman could object he had begun to escort her to the little room where he could then change her bandages. He had sat her upon the bed as he closed the door behind him so they could have some privacy as her doctored her up. The gentle drumming of the rain calmed Relba as she had taken off the dark blue tank top she had worn. The female slowed her breathing to pace herself as Kier peeled off the soiled bandages to reveal the soft tan skin fade in a deep red burn. The young woman lay on her stomach as he applied the disinfectant to hide the pain on her face away while he continued to clean the wound. This hadn't been the first time Kier patched Relba up and from how she saw it it wouldn't be the last. Slowly the pain began to fade away as she began to drift off into fond childhood memories.

Even as a child Relba had liked to take things. Most of the time she would be caught and she would get one hell of a punishment but other times when she was lucky she would get to keep a fews things. Half the time it was just junk that other kids like to collect but to the little girl it was treasure. Matriarch Raina had been a strict Asari who preferred to give punishment rather than love. It wasn't that she was a heartless bitch, she just had many young and lost souls to take care of. Most of the time Rel had been on her own thinking of what amazing treasures in space could be hers. For many nights and days the little girl dreamed of traveling the stars and claiming what was meant to be hers but one day somebody entered her life that would change how she'd view everything.

At first she and the Quarian weren't much of friends. Relba had the tendency to trick people into doing things she hadn't wanted to do. The little Quarian was convinced that a young Asari named Nula had taken Relba's doll so naively he had obtained it back for her. Kier had been caught but defensively Rel had taken the blame for it. After a firm beating to her hands with a wooden spoon, Kier went to apologize to her. Realizing that he had meant more to her than being just some sort of pawn she had deemed him her friend. After that point in time they had become the closest friends. One morning however it changed slightly.

"Do you remember that one morning, back when we were fifteen?" Kier questioned as he touched the wound with medicine.

"Which morning?" Relba responded quietly as he concentrated on his work. Deep down inside they both knew what exactly he had meant and both drifted off into their own thoughts of it. Closing her eyes she let the events of that morning play out in her mind.

It was just an ordinary day that seemed like it would play out normally: she would wake, attempt to wake Kier, eventually get him up just in time for breakfast. Then they would go about dreaming up ways to take the galaxies riches, etc. Do their chores and school lessons and after all of that they would go to bed and do it all again in the morning.

However, a few weeks prior to that morning a little boy had transferred from one orphanage to theirs. The boys name was Elliot and he had taken a strong dislike into Kier. This in turn had enraged Relba but it had been rare that she would be violent to another kid. Being a kleptomaniac had been one thing but throwing fists hadn't been necessary.

During breakfast one morning, Elliot preceded to sit with the few human children that were there. Relba found herself in the company of a few other non-humans, two young Asari named Sila and Veda, a Salarian named Kitra and a young Turian named Varon. All of which had come to the orphanage for many different reasons but in the end they needed to work together and grow up. Nevertheless there were always those who had rejected cooperation.

That morning Elliot had been in one of his more surly moods and had been itching for a fight. Kier, being his object for torment for the past few weeks, had walked by at a bad time and almost instantly he jumped on his back. Quite literally at that. At that point Relba had lost her patience and began to defend her friend. Now you could imagine how most kids would react: picking their side and cheering them on. Relba had been winning up until Elliot decided to play dirty and decided to trip her. In the end both children had lost and received equal punishment for causing a commotion. This hadn't been the only highlight of that day, however.

It had been rare to see either child without the other. They had been stuck at the hip ever since the little Quarian arrived at the orphanage one stormy evening and they showed no sign of ever changing it. However, it did begin to blossom into something else. Relba had begun to see Kier as something more than being just her best friend. All the books she read would end with the girl being with the boy and they would live their lives out happily together. In her mind Kier had been her happily ever after but to the Quarian he only saw her as a friend. Later that evening Relba and Kier had stayed up and talked about what they were going to do when they would have to leave the orphanage. As always it would end with the simple exchange of dreams and hopes but Relba had something else it mind. She wanted a kiss before they had to go to sleep.

Being a Quarian proved difficult for the girl considering the mask that blocked his lips from hers. Did this stop her though? No, it did not. When it had gone silent between the two Relba decided to reach for his helmet to take it off. At first there had been no resistance from him until he heard the click of the helmet opening and releasing of air. Quite frankly he panicked, yelling at her for knowing she could never do that for the consequences were severe. Eventually the Matriarch had to come and settle the whole room down, something she hadn't been pleased about, and then take Kier to the sick room. For about three days he had to stay there, completely cut off from the other kids. On the fourth day however Rel had been permitted to see her friend and so she went to go check on him. At first the little reunion had been awkward but eventually they spoke to one another.

"Why did you do it ?" The little Quarian asked in a raspy voice.

"I wanted to kiss you." Relba responded in a quiet, shamed voice.

"We can't." He answered back which had hurt her feelings severely.

"Why not?"

"Because we're different."

At that point Relba had decided to forget her silly wish of receiving a kiss from him. The little girl realized that maybe it had been the best for the two if they still wanted to be friends. Eventually time had mended the girls heart strings and she moved on but for little Kier he couldn't help but to question if he done the right thing or not. As they grew older Relba had forgotten the love she felt for him while he only grew to love her more. The cruel irony of it all had been the fact that now all he wanted was a kiss from her. Deep in his heart he knew that she wasn't meant for him though he strove to prove that wrong. Everyday he would try to show her that he loved her but he was only trying to show a blind person the sun. It would never work and he knew that.

"So we're going to pay Zeus a visit, hm?" Kier questioned as he finished fixing her wound. Quietly she sat up and put her top back in as she nodded in his direction. The Quarian and female caught one another's eye but almost instantly she pulled away from his stare. With her back turned to him she quietly answered his question.

"Yeah. We should probably get going then considering it takes an hour to get to the city."

Before exiting the room, Relba's golden hues caught his and for a brief moment they held eye contact. This time he looked away first knowing that she needed to be elsewhere. There was no sense in stopping something that needed to happen. He knew the consequences too well already.


	4. Thought

**Chapter Four:** Thought

_"Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone."_

_- Unknown_

Catching a cab to Zeus' pent house had consumed nearly two hours of their time. They parked the hover craft in one of the free spots near the building and within moments they had gotten out of the vehicle. The trio minded their footwork as they shuffled in the darkness for they didn't want to blow their cover. Off in the distance the horizon dipped into a light blue color as the rest of the sky swirled with blackness and faded silver dots that were the stars. It made Relba long for the days from when she was a child always staring up into the never ending black searching for a purpose. It all seemed so innocent back then, not a single care in the world as she shifted from one day dream to another. Now, now she had to get by stealing things and making sure that she and Kier lived to see one more day. Traveling the stars seemed so distant at this point and all of her dreams were doomed to fade as she grew older, even her most precious of all aspirations.

Like an instant replay of the night prior, Kier stood guard as Relba began the process of turning off the alarm system. Kier's luminous eyes watched the shadows closely but it hadn't taken Relba long to do her stuff. Within moments the door was unlocked which relieved Kier of his own duties.

"That's it, we're in." Rel whispered as the door opened.

"Excellent. I sense that no one is behind the door but be cautious nonetheless." Thane replied in a quiet tone that matched the females. The trio walked into the dark shadows and to their happy surprise Thane had been right. Relba had been in the house only once before and that had been the last day she and Zeus talked. The forgetful man needed to grab his credits so they stopped at his house before they went out for celebratory dinner. Despite only being in the place once the place hadn't been how she remembered it. It was almost as if everything in the house had been taken away or sold which had been fishy to her. For what purpose did you need to get rid of all your furniture?

"There was more furniture last time I was here." Relba noted as she passed what should have been the living room. "I wonder where it all went."

No one responded to her light comment as they passed the room quickly to make their way down the hall. Shortly afterwards they arrived at door with sounds emanating from within and cautiously they opened it to reveal a man hunched over a desk. The light showed him scribbling madly on the table repeating a single phrase over and over.

"Find the girl, kill her. Find the girl, kill her."

For a long moment they stared at the withered man with thinning cinnamon colored hair.

"Zeus?" Relba questioned as she neared him "Can you hear me?"

He only continued to scribble but at a harsher, more frustrated pace as he repeated the phrase faster.

"Hey, snap out of it." Kier stated sharply as he moved to stand next to the female. Zeus then reacted fiercely by standing straight up and violently shoving the desk over a foot away from him. Finally the room had been completely silent as all eyes had fallen onto the man dressed in a soiled blue dress shirt.

"Zeus?" Relba questioned once more as she touched his shoulder in an attempt to connect with him. A sudden flash of blue caught her eye as she noticed his dark brown hues staring into hers. Before she could even begin to think about her next move he had begun to assault her.

Agilely the man shifted his body to where he had been behind her and with a swift, hard punch he landed his fist in the tender gunshot wound. As the young woman gasped in pain she hit the floor with a loud thud and began to writhe in pain that had started to pulsate sharply from the area. Almost instantly Kier had ran to her side but had been stopped as Zeus landed multiple punches to his chest. As the Quarian fell next to his human companion, coping with the wind being knocked out of him, Zeus' attention had been entrusted onto Thane who stood poised and ready for the older man's attacks. Just as quickly as he had done before, Zeus ran for his enemy ready to strike him down.

As quick as lightning Zeus launched himself forward to begin his barrage of fists and feet. Thane proved to be far more of an opponent however as he quickly maneuvered to the left and landed a fist directly into his rib cage. It only stunned the powerful force for but a moment as Zeus grunted slightly and then brushed the attack off like it had been nothing. This left Thane to stumble for another attack as he quickly backed away from the recovering clout of nature. Before the drell knew it, Zeus was back to throwing himself at him leaving no room for the drell to make any mistakes.

One man had been a powerful brute while the other had been like water; flowing away from the attacks gracefully just to turn around and quick him in vulnerable areas. Though the drell managed to land a few good hits, Zeus wouldn't go down easily. As the two had dueled Relba had begun to regain herself and reached for Kier's gun. As her hand grasped the coldness of its handle, the young woman gathered her strength and pushed herself onto her feet to help the loosing drell.

The woman aimed for the man in blue as she held her breath and pulled the trigger. Though she tried her hardest to target the older man she had been untrained with weapons which in turn had caused the bullets to spray across the room. Rel hit her target but almost nailed Thane in the process leaving the drell to scramble for cover. The human female nearly got the alien but had missed by just a sliver.

Zeus' pained screams indicated that it had been time to let go of the trigger. The man fell to the ground in a bloody heap as the drell came out from behind cover. Catching a glimpse of the pile, she figured she had killed him but had been relieved at the sight of his chest heaving up and down at a slow pace. Beside her Kier stirred with life as he in turn pulled himself off the ground to join the other two who hovered over the spewing man. Without wasting what little time they had left with him, they instantly began to question him.

"Zeus, tell us who wanted me dead." Relba began as she knelt beside him.

"He who wishes to have soldiers finer than any have seen before is as much of an enemy as he is a friend," he spoke in a low gurgle as he bled deep red "But my enemy's enemy is also a friend."

The man's sluggish lasts breath haunted the room as he slowly began to drift into the afterlife. Relba pondered his final words as they tried to figure out what he meant. As she studied his chilling features go even colder, Relba noticed his eyes frozen upon an object. Being mindful of her own wound and the blood upon the floor, the young woman knelt behind his body enough to see where his eyes had fallen. Kier and Thane silently watched the investigation take place and once they figured out what she was doing they began to search the area. The only thing in that direction had been the desk and almost instantly they began to go through it.

"I hope we find something to make sense of this mess." Kier muttered as he fished through the desk. As soon as the words had left his mouth a small click had been released as he opened the drawer in the center. Immediately his hands flew into its depths and pulled out a small leather bound journal with a red ribbon trailing after it but judging from the dust that had collected upon it the book was old.

"Let me see that." Relba stated as she moved to take it from his grasp. He willingly let her have it and instantly she flipped to the first page. After a few moments of skimming the yellowed pages she began to read a passage out loud.

"Those scientists, the Hawkins, asked me to help them and I couldn't refuse given the circumstances. They wouldn't tell me what the boss wanted them to do but I knew it was bad the moment they gave me their little girl. She's a brand new baby and they haven't even named her yet, and despite this fact, they've already given her some of the syrum. The little girl has soft golden eyes and silver hair which were side effects from the elixir they gave her. The poor little thing didn't even have a name yet so I called her Relba, Rel for short, and she's the happiest baby I've ever seen despite her origins. It's disturbing knowing that if I didn't help she would turn out to be like all the others."

Relba's heart pounded with eager sadness as she flipped to a more recent passage. Instantly she noticed how the writing became wobbly as if he wrote it in a hurry. Still, she read what she could out loud.

"That man, Xavier Christophe, sent his cronies to my place again. They said they knew where Relba was and that they were going to take her back to the boss. This must be payback. Don't they understand that it's been twenty two years? Obviously not considering they still want my head on a plate. The only thing holding him back from taking mine is that we answer to the same boss. I can only hope that Relba's safe otherwise all this scrambling and secrecy over all these years would be for nothing."

Relba set the book on the desk so she could see the dead man at her feet. This man who lay upon the floor, covered in the deep ruby blood that she made him bleed, had been the only person protecting her. A bitter sadness swept over the young woman as she continued to stare at the lifeless body and felt a hard lump form in her throat. In the silence, she listened to Thane shift forward to not only pick up the journal but to whisper his condolences as well. No words left Relba's lips, no nod to acknowledge his kind words, she just stared into oblivion as slight tears formed in her eyes.

"Xavier invited me to one of his infamous parties," Thane began as he opened the mid section of the book "It's being held at his house in Nos Astra. I don't understand how he can afford to not only live in those fancy ass high rises but to also hold a party every other week. I'm barely scraping it by as it is! I accepted his offer only to keep an eye on him though, for Relba's sake."

Thane paused as the words became illegible for a few sentences. Seconds later he continued.

"Relba turned sixteen today. It must be terrible to not only have a birthday in an orphanage but to have it when the snowy season starts. Not that it snows much and just pisses down rain, but it still must be terrible. She's turning into a beautiful young woman who aspires to travel the stars. It's funny how she and Kier have become nearly inseparable over the years. The last time I spoke to her they had a fight of some sort but I'm glad they've worked things out otherwise they'd be lost without one another. Nevertheless, I should get for that damn party and it's a fancy one at that. He says it's not hard to find his place because it's the tallest one there but getting into it will be the hard part. I have to get the password from a guy named Strafer in The Undercroft. Five hundred credits! Can you believe it? All for some damn words. Now I see where he gets his money from...I should get going, for not only my sake but Relba's as well. Till next time."

Again Relba couldn't believe what she had heard. All of this had been for her and the only thanks she had to give was a bullet in the back. The young woman's heart stung as she realized that if she didn't do anything about this problem then his death would be in vain. Refusing that to be the ending to all of this, Relba looked away from Zeus' body to the drell and Quarian at her side. The black and faint glow of their eyes bore into her golden ones as the silence began to ebb from them. Taking in a deep breath, Rel looked downwards to the ground as she turned her body around to exit the room. Without looking to either of them she softly spoke.

"We should find Strafer. If we get into that party I'm sure we will find some answers there."

Silently Kier and Thane followed behind the silver-haired woman but she moved out of the way to let them pass. As the two aliens made their way down the hall, Relba and Zeus were left alone together in the empty silence. In a soft whisper she spoke to the body.

"Sorry dad, I wasn't a good daughter to you even though you were a great father to me. I'll see to it that your death is justified, I promise."

With no other words left to be said the woman left the room to find her answers.


End file.
